I put on a funny remix of the Hamster song at work and then we were robbed at gunpoint. It was surreal.

I opened my wallet to show my friends I had no monies, and a moth flew out of it.

Missed an archery target and hit a copperhead snake that was hiding in a bush.

In 2013 I received a notice from my college that my low GPA from the previous semester made me ineligible for financial aid the following semester. It was my last term in grad school and the college was threatening to drop me from all classes if I didn't pay tuition within 72 hours. I went to drown my sorrows at a bar later that night and I met a stranger and we started talking. I told her my story and she offered to pay my tuition. I told her I didn't accept loans from strangers but she said it was a gift. Turns out she was a very wealthy CEO and that night she wrote me a check for $2,500. I paid my tuition, finished school, and we still keep in touch.

I (American) was visiting the UK for the first time. I got to my hostel and started chatting with the Australian guy in the bed above mine. When I mention where I’m from, he says there’s a famous restaurant there he really loves and goes to with his family every time they visit. Turns out it was a place I used to work. He says “Hey I have a picture of our server from the last time I was there, maybe it’s someone you know.” It was me.

When I was a teen in the '80s, I got to meet and briefly hang out with an idol of mine. He was (and still is) an extremely famous rock star. He was very nice but a bit twitchy and very high-energy. Cocaine is a Hell of a drug. At the end of my little visit, I asked if I could have a photo with him. He said "let's take a bunch!" So I handed my camera to an assistant and he took a few nice normal pictures. As I'm reaching to take back my camera I hear "ONE MORE!" from behind me, and the dude jumps on my back and assistant snaps the photo. Keep in mind that I was a 14-year-old girl at the time, Mr. Rock Star weighed probably 200 pounds, and I was caught completely off guard. It's a miracle that I kept my feet under me and didn't get injured, but I got the most hilarious photo ever! Fast forward about 35 years, and I by some miracle had occasion to meet him again. I was standing around with some other people waiting, he came in and started shaking hands. When he got to me, he shook my hand, looked me straight in the eye, and said "Hey there Gorilla! How's your back these days?" I was literally shocked speechless. This man, who has been fighting drug and alcohol addiction for most of his life, remembered a 15 minute chat/photo-op with a nervous teenager several decades ago, remembered my name and his little prank, and recognized me in middle age. What a great guy. I'm still his biggest fan.

My dad wrote a book a very long time ago, and signed the copy that he gave to his in-laws. Years after he had died I loaned the signed copy to a guy I was dating. We stopped seeing each other and he never gave it back. Years later I decided I wanted a copy of my dad’s book even though it wouldn’t be *my* signed copy so I ordered it used on Amazon. The book that arrived is the signed one I’d loaned out. Turns out he had sold it to a used bookstore, and I just happened to order from them.

Taking a beautiful Saturday morning ride home on my motorcycle. Mini van pulled out in front of me. Totalled motorcycle and van. Hospital did a scan of my head. Come to find out I had brain cancer that we caught very early. Which may have saved my life.

My husband and I went to a Tom Petty concert at the last minute only being able to get tickets for the cheap seats. Right before the concert starts somebody approaches us and says ‘do you want to get bumped up’ and I said sure because there can’t be any worse seats than this and he says ‘ I am with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and these are front row seats’. He hands them to me and disappears. My husband and I looked at each other, walk to the front section security guard, showed him our tickets and he walked us to front row center seats and we enjoyed a really great concert.

I was walking through the woods with my boyfriend in high school and we found some papers scattered everywhere. They were really old and gross but we were like "oh what if it's the DB Cooper briefcase" or something and picked up a sheet to see what it was and it WAS A HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT I COMPLETED AND TURNED IN DURING THE 4TH GRADE. Nothing could have prepared me to see my own name in my own childhood handwriting in the middle of the woods lol

My date and I got stuck at the top of a Ferris Wheel for nearly 3 hours when the ride's mechanism failed. It was a very tall wheel - and she was afraid of heights. So, those hours in the Ferris Wheel car together seemed like eternity.

When I was about 12, there was a pizza place near my house with a Ms. Pacman arcade game in it. I had spent maybe two years trying to get on the Top 10 score list. Finally went in one night and was just possessed, played a nearly flawless game, and ended up being *the* high score on that unit! Put my name on the top of the list for everyone to see, and felt like a queen! Not even maybe a minute later, three men, all asian and wearing what I think of as the stereotypical "Japanese office worker" outfit of dark slacks, belt, button down white long sleeve shirts, walk in, go directly to the game, don't order food or talk to anyone else. One of them starts playing the game. And within a few minutes, he obliterates my high score and puts his name at the top. They left without interacting with anyone in the place. Just walked in and knocked me off the top and left. If anyone can explain what happened to me that day, I'd appreciate it!

I was on a plane with a wanted terrorist. I was seated 5 rows ahead of Faisal Shahzad, the Time Square Bomber on a flight to Dubai. The doors were closed and we never left the gate, and the captain kept making announcements/excuses as to why we were delayed. After nearly 3 hours of sitting there, the federal agents rushed the plane and marched that little s**t off the plane.

Was going to see a concert with some friends. Printed my ticket at home. This was before mobile tickets were ubiquitous. We all decided to meet at a bar about a mile from the venue, then walk over after a few drinks. Have our drinks and some food and head to the venue. When we get there, I suddenly realize I don't have my ticket on me. Panicked, I run back to the bar. Check my car in the parking lot, nothing. Head inside the bar, check the table we were at, look everywhere. No ticket. Bummed and dejected, I leave the bar and begin to trek back to the venue to let my friends know I can't go with them. While I was waiting at a crosswalk, the wind blows a bit, and with it, a sheet of paper floats past me and comes to a stop on the sidewalk. I reach down, pick it up, and it's my goddamn printed ticket. One of the best days of my life.

When I was a kid I caught MewTwo at full health with a Great Ball in Pokémon FireRed. I thought, “hey why not just toss one out on the first turn cause why not” and as the ball kept rocking back and forth I was like lmao there’s no way. But then it caught him and I just sat there with my mouth open for a couple minutes. I didn’t know what to do since it would’ve been impossible to explain to my mom the significance of what just happened. I don’t know the math but it has to be under 1% chance.

I moved away from my hometown when I was 20. I started working for a company that had several locations around the city. One day I just happened to be walking past one of the locations that I didn't work at because I was going to an eye appointment. Right as I was walking by, a guy I knew from that other location walks out the door and tells me that my mom is on the phone. She was desperately trying to get in touch with me because my grandfather had died. She knew the name of the company I worked for but didn't know which location I worked at, so she got an operator to connect her with one of the locations at random. The guy I knew said he was on the phone with her and was just starting to explain that I didn't work at that location when he looked out the window and saw me walking by.

Have a 2 dollar bill that has me and my wife's signature on it saying "just the 2 of us". We did it when we first got together and after a while had it framed. Some years later it was stolen by some jackass who decided to break into my house. I ended up going to some random gas station weeks later and got I back as change. Literally just stood there and stared at it in disbelief and told the cashier about it. Just insane coincidence and luck. Still have that sucker and it's been another 5 years.

I was in Hawaii for the missile strike turned false alarm. It was a movie scene. Full grown men with families asking me what to do. People running in from the beach screaming. Screeching tires. Terrifying.

I was abducted when I was 15. My “best friend” helped the pimps (who she was working for) help sell me. I had a pimp, named Goldie, beat the s**t out of me the first night and then made me go out on the streets. He followed me every time I was picked up to make sure I didn’t run away. I finally found a opportunity, and ran away with a couple of bucks in my pocket. Another pimp helped me escape. When I finally made it home, my parents were so happy. The rest of the world, not so much. Kids at school found out and I was labeled a wh*re forever. This was 30 years ago, and I just had a girl I went to HS with message me on Facebook to tell me that I have to always remember I’m nothing but a cheap hooker. This was after she saw my name in a mutual friends post. I informed her I work with social workers and police officers who try and help victims of trafficking. That the shame spiral for these poor girls leads to all rate mortality at an alarming speed. That my partner and best friends know what happened to me. I used to let it shape me. I used to think I was just an ex hooker so no one would ever love me or want me. That I wasn’t supposed to be happy or ever have a good job. Or that I would lose it all if anyone ever found out. I’m only in my 40s now but I’m wise enough to have figured out all of my fears were just from PTSD. I do deserve happiness and a good life. I’m not an ex hooker- I was a kid and a victim. Kids - if anyone tells you that you aren’t s**t, please remember you are AWESOME. And if your situation is s**t, I promise you. It can get better. Hugs from an Oregon mamma.

Was going from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with my aunt and cousins. The day before we were supposed to fly, we changed our flight to the following day so someone could pick us up at the airport when we arrived. Our original flight was the Air France 447, that fell in 2009 and everyone died.

When I was a kid, my sister was terrified of thunderstorms. One afternoon, a storm rolls through. We were doing homework at the kitchen table together, and my sister started getting scared. She got under the table, just in case. My mom tried to coax her out, to which my sister replied "What if we get struck by lightning?" My mom, exasperated, replies, "We are *not* going to get struck by lightning." And the moment her sentence ended, there was a loud crack and lightning struck our house. It hit halfway up our stairs, where it reaches a landing and curves back on itself. There was a window at that spot and the entire windowsill was black, as were the bottom 6 panels of the blinds. No damage whatsoever to the tall pine tree directly outside the window. Knocked out our phones and security system. The wiring had to be replaced completely. Power was totally fine though. And I had a cool, yet unbelievable, story the next day about why I didn't finish my homework.

I was sitting outside with my friend and he was twirling his double bladed pocket knife. This thing was big too. It slipped out of his hand and flew straight towards me. The handle (between the blades) hit me in the head, but not a single part of the blade touched me. I’m not sure how that happened.

Me, my husband & 2 young kids decide to go to a Six Flags park on a Saturday. I picked out everyone clothes for the day, but my husband decided to wear a different shirt, an ugly green polo. I hated the shirt and acted pissy all the way to the park during the two hour drive. We arrive and got in line to get admission tickets then a stranger walks up and asks us if we want to get in free as he had season passes and it was some kind of "bring a friend" type of promo day. We thanked him for saving us admission costs and asked him "why did you choose us out of all he people here?". It was because my husbands shirt color was the same color of his favorite sport team. My husband laughed about it all day.

Went to a secluded mansion in Scotland for the weekend with my partner to attend a "conference" a friend suggested, that turned out to be an drug fueled orgy for corporate swingers. Us and a couple of other misinformed guests ended up barricading ourselves in a study and watching old horror movies all weekend while a bunch of randos on LSD had sex in the grand dinning hall next door.

I was in a coffee shop in Austria called the Pharmacy. I asked for the toilet and the old man behind the counter told me to go downstairs and to use the door that said ‘ do not enter’. I done what I was told but found I was trapped in the dark some storage room. Fearing it was a Fritzel room I switched on my phone light and noticed a ladder, so I climbed up it. At the top I exited a hatch and was surrounded by horses. Very expensive looking horses. I’d come up in the stables of the Vienna Spanish riding school. Had to exit through the riding ring.

I was working a front desk job at a small office in a strip mall. A car pulled up, went over the curb, through the window, and hit the desk as I was sitting there.

One time I went camping with my ex, and we took some LSD. Was around 1am, and I started seeing flashes of light, figured it was just someone else in the campsite with a flashlight... and then I heard a distant ominus boom. Looked outside the tent, one side of the sky was a clear starry night, the other side was a giant black doom cloud with a f*ckload of lightning coming from it. So then began the scramble to get everything out of the tent, and into the car. I remember picking up handfuls of stuff that was just... melting into my arms because I was in the peak of an acid trip. We got the stuff in the car, and left the tent because we couldnt figure out how to disassemble it, and then huddled in the car ourselves. By this time the storm was on top of us and the rain was pouring, and lightning was coming down all over the place. Then, the crazy part. It had been a couple hours into the storm, and we were still high as f**k. I suddenly felt super tingly all over, looked at my ex and her hair was standing right up on end... we knew what was about to happen and managed to give each other a wide eyed glance before *KABOOM!*. The lightning stuck the ground not an arms reach from me, I could have grabbed it if the window was down. It wasnt a normal strike either, it was a positive lightning strike which starts at the ground, and goes up, and is usually about 100x the power of negative lightning. I described as Zeus looking down at some puny mortals tripping balls in the middle of a storm and said to his greek god bros "Hey guys, wanna see me scare the c**p of these two?" Was amazing to see... but I never wanna experience that again.

I somehow got backstage without them checking me for a pass when everyone else had to show theirs and finally got to meet Sufjan Stevens, my absolute fave, after 13 years, and we talked for like 45 minutes! And I think he would have kept talking if I hadn't felt so like I was keeping him up and told him I had to go. He had even turned down celebratory drinks (it was the last show of the tour) with his band to talk. It's been 6 years I still can't believe it and I think about it multiple times a day. And to boot, Bryan Devendorf, the drummer from my fave band The National was there too so I got to meet him too. He is incredibly tall.

I went to watch an MMA Event called Xtreme Cage Warz in 2006. I was talking to the promoter as I knew him. The heavyweightm main event fighter came up to Dave and said his opponent cant fight for I dont remember the reason. I looked at the guy and said "Ill fight you". He asked if I was serious, I said sure you came 1000 miles might as well fight someone. We both asked Dave he said sure why not. They ran some checks on me, I borrowed a pair of Muay Thai shorts that I put on backwards, someone ran to wal mart and got me a cup and a mouthpiece. I then got in the cage on no notice essentially and fought they guy. He absolutely twisted me up and kicked the living hell out of me. It was super fun, mma gloves are much softer than I expected and didn't get knocked out. For doubters, pm me Ill give you my name and his name and this fight can be googled

I once asked a country artist if they were going to attend his own show. It was Aaron Tippin. He just came from a celebrity baseball game and was still in the uniform. I was taking a side entrance to bring in some 12 packs of soda to the hotel room and him and I guess one of his crew held the door open for me. The grew member had a cowboy hat and the whole look going on. After thanking them, I casually asked if they were there for the concert. Aaron Tippin was walking away and heard me say it. He started laughing as he turned the corner. It then dawned on me and I asked his crew member if that was who I thought it was. He smiled and nodded. After the show I went and got his autograph and joked about it. TLDR: didn't recognize singer when they held a door open for me. Asked him and his buddy if they were there for his concert.